Dell Appassure 5 User Guide
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Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B29 Core drop-down menu (under Outgoing Replication)The drop-down menu (gear icon) next to the name of a target core includes the following functions: •Details. Shows the customer ID, URL, display name, state, Core ID, email address, and comments associated with this core. For more information, see Monitoring replication. •Change Settings. Lets you edit the host and port for this core. For more information, see Changing target core settings. • Delete. Removes the Core from replication. For more information, see Removing a target core from replication. • Schedule. Lets you designate specific times when replication should occur. For more information, see Scheduling replication. • Add Machines. Lets you add protected machines you want to replicate to this target core. Core drop-down menu (under Incoming Replication)The drop-down menu (gear icon) next to the name of a source core includes the following functions: •Details. Shows the customer ID, URL, display name, state, Core ID, email address, and comments associated with this core. For more information, see Monitoring replication. •Consume. Adds a seed drive of a protected machine to the target core repository to establish the foundation of a replicated agent. For more information, see Consuming the seed drive on a target core. • Delete. Removes the Core from replication. For more information, see Removing a source core from replication. Agent drop-down menu (table heading row)The drop-down menu (gear icon) in the heading row applies to any protected machines or agents selected from the table. It includes the following functions: •Force. Forces a transfer of replicated data. •Pause. Pauses replication and prevents the job from occurring until you resume. •Resume. Takes replication out of a paused state •Copy. Creates a seed drive of the protected machine. For more information, see Understanding seed drives and Using the Copy function to create a seed drive. • Delete. Removes the selected agents from replication. For more information about these functions, see Managing replication settings and Removing replication. Force Refresh There is a Force Refresh button following the Outgoing Replication and the Incoming Replication sections. For each section, this circular button establishes on-demand communication between the cores to update any data that may have changed since the last scheduled transfer. Table 4. Replication tab options UI Element Description
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B30 Viewing the Virtual Standby tab The Virtual Standby tab lets you initiate and manage the continual export of a protected machine to one of several virtual machine (VM) host types. Available VM types include: •ESXi •VMware Workstation •Hyper-V •VirtualBox The menu bar under the Virtual Standby heading provides actions that you can apply to any Virtual Standby machine you select. The following table includes descriptions of the various elements and capabilities on the Virtual Standby tab. In the Core Console, the table under the menu bar lists the virtual machines to which the Core is connected. The following table defines the details that the tab displays for each machine.Agent drop-down menu (individual agents under Outgoing Replication)The drop-down menu (gear icon) next to an individual protected machine or agent offers functions that apply only to that machine. It includes the following functions: • Settings. Lets you set the replication priority for this agent. For more information, see Setting replication priority for a protected machine. •Force. Forces a transfer of replicated data. Forcing replication. • Delete. Removes the agent from replication. For more information, see Removing a protected machine from replication on the source core. Agent drop-down menu (individual agents under Incoming Replication)The drop-down menu (gear icon) next to an individual protected machine or agent offers functions that apply only to that machine. It includes the following functions: • Settings. Lets you set the replication priority for this agent. For more information, see Setting replication priority for a protected machine. •Failover. If there is a disaster recovery situation, this function lets you fail over to the replicated machine until you repair the original machine. For more information, see Understanding failover and failback. • Delete. Removes the agent from replication. For more information, see Removing a protected machine on the target core. Table 5. Virtual Standby tab options UI Element Description Add Creates a Virtual Standby machine by exporting a recovery point to a virtual destination. Force Performs an on-demand transfer of the latest recovery points from the original protected machine to the Virtual Standby machine. Pause Pauses the transfer of data from the Core to the virtual machine. Resume Resumes data transfer after it was paused. Remove Terminates the connection between the Core and the virtual machine. Show Export Queue (#)Reveals the order in which data is scheduled to transfer for multiple virtual machines. Table 4. Replication tab options UI Element Description
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B31 Viewing the Events tab On the Events tab, you can view the jobs that occurred or are in progress on the Core. Buttons at the top of the page let you navigate to lists of jobs in each of the three categories of activities: •Tasks. A job that the AppAssure must perform to operate successfully. •Alerts. A notification related to a task or event that includes errors and warning. •Events. A composite of all Core tasks and alerts. The following table includes descriptions of each element on the Events tab.Table 6. Virtual Standby tab table UI Element Description Status The state in which data transfer is in, such as paused. Machine Name The name of the Virtual Standby machine. Destination The name of the machine to which the Core exports the recovery points. Export Type The type of virtual machine host software. Last Export The date and time of the last export. Table 7. Events tab options UI Element Description Search keyword Lets you search for a specific item within each category. From To narrow your results, you can enter a date at which to begin searching. To To narrow your results, you can enter a date at which to stop searching. Status icons Each icon represents a different job status. Clicking one of the icons lets you filter the list by that status, thereby generating a report. Clicking the icon a second time removes the filter for that status. You can filter by more than one status. Statuses include: •Active. A job that is in progress. •Queued. A job that is waiting for another job to complete before it can initiate. •Waiting. A job waiting for your approval or completion, such as a seed drive. (For more information about seed drives, see Understanding replication.) • Complete. A job that the Core completed successfully. •Failed. A job that failed and did not complete. Service icon This button adds services jobs to the list of jobs. When you click this icon, a smaller service icon appears on each status icon, which lets you filter by service jobs that have those statuses. Examples of services jobs include deleting index files or removing a machine from protection. Export type drop- down listThe drop-down list includes the formats to which you can export the event report. It includes the following formats: •PDF •XLS •XLSX •RTF •CSV
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B32 The Events tab displays all events in a table. The table includes the following information for each item. Viewing the Tools tab The Tools tab shows system information by default, and lets you access tools to help manage the core. To access these tools, select an option from the Tools menu on the left, or from the drop-down menu on the Tools tab. These tools are described in the following table.Export icon Converts the event report to the format you selected. Page selection Event reports can include several jobs across multiple pages. The numbers and arrows at the bottom of the Events tab let you navigate the additional pages of the report. Table 8. Events tab table information UI Element Description > The bracket expands the job to reveal the following details: •Start Time. When the job began. •End Time. When the job ended. •Elapsed Time. The amount of time for which the job was active. •Rate. The rate at which the Core transfers the data. •Progress. When a job is in progress, it shows how much the Core completed in real time. When the job is complete, it shows how much of the job the Core completed. • Phase. When a job is in progress, this detail shows in which stage the progress is (for example, Transferring). •Cancel. When a job is in progress, a link here lets you cancel the job. •Total Work. When a job is complete, it shows how much of the job the Core completed. •Child Task. Lists the sub tasks associated with this job. Job The type of job the Core performed, such as transfer of volumes, maintaining repository, or rolling up. Status The status of the job, such as Succeeded for a successfully completed job or Error for a job that failed due to errors. Start Time The day and time at which the job began. End Time The day and time at which the job ended. Details Opens the Monitor Active Task window. It includes the job details you see when you expand the job, as well as the following details for the child jobs: •Start Time •End Time •Elapsed Time •Rate •Pr ogr es s •To t a l W o r k Table 7. Events tab options UI Element Description
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B33 Table 9. Information about tools accessible to the Core UI Element Description System Info Shows information about the AppAssure Core, including system information, local and mounted volumes, and Replay engine connections. For more information, see Modifying transfer queue settings. Boot CDs From the Boot CDs pane, you can manage (create or delete) boot CD ISO images required to perform a bare metal restore (BMR). The information shown for any existing boot CD images includes the path of the ISO image, the recovery environment for which it was created, and the date the image was created. For information on managing boot CD images, see Managing a Windows boot image or Managing a Linux boot image, respectively. Mounts From the Local Mounts pane, you can view or dismount volumes mounted locally. From the Remote Mounts pane, you can view or dismount volumes mounted using the Local Mount Utility. For information on dismounting volumes, see Dismounting recovery points. For information on mounting a recovery point locally, see Mounting a recovery point or Mounting a recovery point volume on a Linux machine, respectively. Bulk Deploy From the Deploy Agent to Machines pane, you can deploy the Agent software from the Core to multiple Windows machines simultaneously. For more information on performing this, see Understanding bulk deploy. Downloads The Downloads page includes three sections: Agent, Local Mount Utility, and Other files. Each section includes a link you can use to download and install the relevant files. For example: •The Agent section includes a link to download the web installer for the AppAssure Agent software (and also includes a link to the License Portal). •The Local Mount Utility includes a link to download the web installer for the LMU. •The Other files section includes a link to download the SNMP MIB file. Archive The Archive page is where you can manage scheduled and mounted archives. The Archive menu offers the following options: • Scheduled. This option takes you to the main Scheduled Archives page. •Create. Lets you create an archive of recovery points. • Check Archive. Opens the Check Archive window and lets you scan an archive file for index files mapping offsets, structure integrity, and checksum integrity. •Import. Use this option to import an archive of recovery points so that you can browse the file and restore archived data. For more information, see Understanding archives. Clouds The Clouds page lets you add your existing cloud provider accounts to the AppAssure Core Console and so that you can use them as archive destinations. For more information, see Archiving to a cloud. For managing cloud accounts, see Managing cloud accounts.
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B34 Viewing the Configuration tab The Configuration tab shows settings and configuration options that let you adjust and customize AppAssure protection to suit your business needs. To access these options, select an option from the menu on the Configuration page, or from the drop-down menu on the Configuration tab. These options are described in the following table.Diagnostics The Diagnostics page is there for your convenience in case you should ever encounter an issue for which you want to contact AppAssure Support. Here, you can use the Download and Upload menu options to download the Core log or upload a Core log. For more information, see Downloading the Core logs and Uploading logs. Reports The Reports page lets you generate reports about the Core’s activity and export them in a variety of formats. Report options include the following: •Compliance. Provides the status of jobs performed by the Core. •Summary. Provides information about the repositories associated with the Core. •Failure. A subset of the Compliance report, it lists only the failed jobs attempted by the Core. For more information, see Generating and viewing reports. Table 10. Configuration tab options UI Element Description Repositories The Repositories tab lets you add, edit, and remove repositories and storage locations. For more information, see Understanding repositories. Security The Security tab is where you can add encryption keys for safeguarding your data. For more information, see Understanding encryption keys. Events Unlike the Events tab, the Configuration tab Events menu option lets you manage and modify the notifications you and your colleagues receive about a wide range of topics, such as replication, archive, and log truncation. On this tab, you can add and edit groups, manage email settings, and filter the amount of email alerts sent by enabling repetition reduction. For more information about the Events option, see Understanding email notifications, Configuring notification groups, and Configuring event retention. Retention Policy The Retention Policy tab lets you determine how long a recovery point should be maintained before you archive it. This option uses the rollup feature to combine recovery points after a preset amount of time, deduplicate the data, and reduce the size of the data in your repository, thereby conserving space. For more information, see Managing retention policies. Attachability The Attachability tab is where you can modify the attachability check settings for your protected SQL Server machines. An attachability check determines whether the SQL database is safe for recovery. For more information, see Configuring SQL attachability settings. Table 9. Information about tools accessible to the Core UI Element Description
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B35 Using the Error dialog box When an error occurs in the AppAssure Core Console user interface, such as trying to enter an invalid parameter, an Error dialog box appears. The dialog box typically indicates the cause of the error, includes some links to provide more information about the error, and includes a Close button. You must close the Error dialog box before you continue, but you may want to view more information about the error. In the Error dialog box, choose from the following options: Settings The options available on the Settings page of the Configuration tab apply to the Core and all of its protected machines. It includes the ability to modify settings in the following categories: •General. The General settings include the Core display name, Web server port, and service port. For more information, see Understanding system information. •Updates. The Updates section lets you determine when to check for new AppAssure updates and when to install those updates. It also displays the status of available updates and the last time AppAssure checked for new updates Configuring update settings. •Nightly Jobs. Nightly jobs are regular maintenance tasks scheduled during off-hours so as not to disrupt your most intensive business hours. They include tasks such as downloading logs from the protected machines, the attachability check job, rollup, and log truncation. For more information, see Understanding nightly jobs. • Transfer Queue. The Transfer Queue settings determine how many data transfers should occur at one time, and how many times AppAssure should attempt a transfer in the case of network issues. For more information, see Modifying transfer queue settings. Licensing On the Licensing page, you can change the type of license you use as well as view information about licensing constraints, license pools, and license server. The License Server section indicates communication status between the Core and the License Portal. For more information, see Managing licenses. Backup/Restore The Backup/Restore option lets you back up and restore your core settings. For more information, see Backing up and restoring Core settings. Job Settings The Job Settings page is where you can add jobs and modify the settings for jobs scheduled to occur on the Core. Jobs include the ChecksumCheckJob, MountabilityCheckJob, and ReplicationJob, among others. For more information, see Configuring Core job settings. Table 11. Error dialog box options UI Element Description Show details If you select this link, the dialog box expands to include additional details about the error. This option only appears if details are not already displayed. Hide details If you select this link, the dialog box contracts and hides error details. This option only appears if error details are already displayed. Show stack trace If you select this link, the highest level of detail about the error displays, including the exception chain and the full stack trace error Hide stack trace If you select this link, the dialog box contracts and hides error stack trace and details. This option only appears if stack trace details are already displayed. Table 10. Configuration tab options UI Element Description
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B36 User interface errors that cause the Error dialog box to appear are not tracked in AppAssure events tab, since they are simply validation or data entry errors. However, when you click the Search Knowledge Base option for any error, then the URL link provided for that error is recorded to the CoreAppRecovery.log file. You can search the log for the text string “KB article url generated” to see the URL for each error that was viewed in a browser. For more information on downloading or viewing Core error logs, see the topics Downloading the Core logs or Viewing the Core logs, respectively. Understanding the Quick Start Guide The Quick Start Guide is a new feature available with AppAssure release 5.4 and later. This feature provides you with a guided flow of suggested tasks to configure and use AppAssure. The Quick Start Guide appears automatically the first time you upgrade to or install the AppAssure Core and navigate to the Core Console. Click Start Guide on the Welcome page of the guide to see the various suggested configuration tasks. Navigate through the guide using the Skip Step and Back options. When you have seen the last suggested task, click Finish to close the guide. You can launch the Quick Start Guide again at any time. You can also choose to hide the Welcome page in the Quick Start Guide. For more information about these options, see Launching the Quick Start Guide. Unless you hide it, the Quick Start Guide will reappear each time you log in to the AppAssure Core Console and access the Home tab. For more information, see Hiding the Quick Start Guide. You are not required to perform the steps suggested by the guide. You can simply view the suggested tasks, navigating through them using the Skip Step and Back options. Optionally, to hide the guide at any point, click Exit Guide. If you choose to perform any configuration tasks suggested by the Quick Start Guide, follow the prompts indicated in any step of the guide, and the appropriate wizard or relevant area in the user interface appears. Procedures to complete each task suggested by the guide is described in this document, as indicated in the table below. The Quick Start Guide addresses the following configuration tasks: Search Knowledge BaseIf you select this link, a browser window opens showing the Dell AppAssure Support knowledge base (KB). Details about the error are automatically passed as parameters to search the knowledge base by key word. If any KB articles exist pertaining to the error, those articles appear on the page. Close If you click this button, the Error dialog box closes, letting you correct the erroneous information entered into the AppAssure Core Console when the error appeared. NOTE: Not all configuration tasks suggested by the Quick Start Guide are required for all users. You must understand which tasks you want to accomplish for your specific needs. Table 11. Error dialog box options UI Element Description
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B37 Launching the Quick Start Guide The Quick Start Guide appears automatically the first time you upgrade to or install the AppAssure Core. Unless you hide it, the guide reappears each time you access the Home tab on the Core Console. Table 12. Quick Start Guide configuration tasks Function Short Description Result of Selecting Task, Link to Procedure Protection Protecting an agent machine, protecting a server cluster, or protecting multiple machines using bulk protectClick Protect or select Protect Machine from the drop- down menu to open the Protect Machine Wizard. For information on completing the Protect Machine Wizard, see Protecting a machine. Select Protect Cluster from the drop-down menu to open the Connect to Cluster dialog box. For more information on protecting a cluster, see Protecting a cluster. Select Bulk Protect from the drop-down menu to open the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard. For information on completing the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard, see Protecting multiple machines. Replication Setting up replication from a primary (source) core to a secondary (target) coreClick Replication to open the Replication tab. Prompts you to add a target core using the Replication Wizard. For information on using the Replication Wizard to set up replication on a self-managed core, see Replicating to a self-managed target core. For general information on replication, see Configuring replication. Virtual Export Performing a one-time or establishing continual export from a protected agent machine to a virtual machineClick Export to perform an export of data from your protected machine to a virtual machine. You can either perform a one-time export, or set up virtual standby for continual export to a VM. For information on virtual exports, see Exporting data to a Windows-based virtual machine. Configuration Allows you to set up additional configuration for the AppAssure CoreClick Configuration to see prompts for security (setting up encryption keys), notifications (setting up event notification), and retention policies (establishing criteria for rollup of aging recovery points). Configuration: EncryptionSetting up encryption key that you can use for one or more agentsClick Security to open the Security page on the Configuration tab. Prompts you to add an encryption key or import one. Once you do this, you may apply it to one or more agents. Encryption is described in the topic Understanding encryption keys. Configuration: NotificationsSetting up notifications for events, warnings and alertsClick Events to specify notification groups for events, warnings, and alerts. To send these by email, you must also establish SMTP server settings. For more information on managing events, see the topic Managing events, including the topics Configuring notification groups and Configuring an email server. Configuration: RetentionViewing or changing the default retention policy for the CoreClick Retention Policy to open the Retention Policy page on the Configuration tab. From here you can define how long to keep a recovery point before rolling it up. For conceptual information about retention policies, see the topic Retention and archiving. For procedural information, see Managing retention policies. Restore Restoring data from a recovery point on the CoreClick Restore to open the Restore Machine Wizard. For information on restoring data, see the topic Restoring volumes from a recovery point.
Dell AppAssure User Guide Version 5.4.3 Revision B38 Use the procedure below to open the Quick Start Guide at any time from the Core Console. To launch the Quick Start Guide 1 Navigate to the AppAssure Core Console. 2 From the Help menu, select Quick Start Guide. The Quick Start Guide appears. Hiding the Quick Start Guide The Quick Start Guide appears automatically the first time you upgrade to or install the AppAssure Core. It also appears when you select Quick Start Guide from the Help drop-down menu, and each time you access the Home tab on the Core Console. Use the procedure below to hide the Quick Start Guide. To hide the Quick Start Guide from the Welcome page •From the AppAssure Core Console, if you are viewing the Welcome page of the Quick Start Guide, do the following: •If you want to hide the Welcome page of the Quick Start Guide, select Dont show again. •If you want to hide the Quick Start Guide for this session, then click Close. The Quick Start Guide closes. The next time you access the Home tab on the Core Console, the Quick Start Guide will reappear. You can also open the Quick Start Guide from the Help menu, as described in Launching the Quick Start Guide. To hide the Quick Start Guide from within any step of the Quick Start Guide •From any page in the Quick Start Guide click Exit Guide. The Quick Start Guide closes. If you select this option, you can still open the Quick Start Guide from the Help menu, as described in Launching the Quick Start Guide. Viewing the protected machines menu In the AppAssure user interface, a Protected Machines menu appears in the left navigation area. By default, this menu is fully expanded, and shows a list of any machines that are protected by this Core. If you have any server clusters protected, then these are included in this list. You can collapse or expand the view for protected machines and server clusters in your Core by clicking the arrow on the left side of this menu. The Protected Machines menu includes a drop-down menu on the right side which lists functions that can be performed on all protected machines. Click the arrow to the right of Protected Machine to see the menu and to perform any of the following: •Force an incremental snapshot for all machines •Force a base image for all machines •Pause protection for all machines (if protection is active) NOTE: This option will hide the Welcome page the next time the Start Guide is opened, and every time, until you upgrade the AppAssure Core. If you choose to hide this page, and want to access advanced options in the future, then select Back in the wizard to see this hidden page.